Library's new store offers more space

After their most recent move, volunteers at the Friends of the Juneau Public Library Amazing Bookstore are sure of this.

``We have very loyal customers. We wondered about moving,'' said Donna Denton, volunteer coordinator for Friends. ``But one of them said, `You could move out in the middle of a cow pasture and we'd find you.'''

They didn't have to go quite that far. The store, in the Mendenhall Mall since it opened in 1989, recently moved into the Airport Shopping Center.

At about 2,200 square feet, the new store is the nonprofit's largest space yet. The previous location, near the Mendenhall Library, was a little more than half that. Still, it raised almost $40,000 a year for local libraries.

``This is the eighth place we've been,'' Denton said. ``We've outgrown all of them. Where we are now is so big, I think we'll stay here for awhile.''

Staying put will be a change for the bookstore. Even prior to its official opening, annual book sales were held in locations ranging from the library conference room to hallways and unoccupied stores.

Those sales sparked the idea for the bookstore.

``It was once a year for a weekend, then twice a year for a week. It's just grown,'' Denton said.

Originally, the bookstore helped the library siphon off unwanted books.

``But then the public got into the act,'' Denton said. ``They bring us wonderful books.''

They bring them at impressive rates, as well. Denton estimated the store now has up to 20,000 books; donations range from out-of-print Alaskana to boxes of Harlequin romances. Suspense writers John Grisham and Tom Clancy appear in the store with the most frequency.

``They must sell like crazy,'' Denton said. ``You just wonder how many of their books are in print.''